Hi had my surgery on 6/18/13.. Lost 10 pounds the first week gain 3 pounds back I feel like I can eat and drink anything no restrictions .. Going for my first fill July 24, I hope I can see a difference.so frustrated ???©???«

Does your doctor's office do fills using a fluoroscope?

It took three fills (almost three month's past surgery) before I started losing weight and feeling restriction. I also notice that my band is becoming less effective now that I have lost 50 pounds--I suspect I need another fill to get back on the wagon. Right now I am holding steady.

Dude... it's been 6 weeks for me with one fill and I also feel I could eat or drink anything, But I have lost over 30 lbs since I started the pre-op diet. You gotta make a committment and stick to it. Don't expect to lose weight if you continue with your old bad habits. I had to change my entire eating "weigh" of life. I decided on a 1200 calories a day diet and I am sticking to it. I use the Myfitness app to log all my food and it syncs with my fitbit. I also weigh myself everyday (which I should NOT do). We did not go through all this bull crap to not make this work! Make a plan that works for you and stick to it.

After I got banded I worried about healing first and weight loss second. It's tough to eat like your band is working when you haven't gotten fills yet. Don't feel bad, just get to the doc and get some fills and the weight loss will kick back in. You're not doing anything wrong, you just need to get your band turned on and working for you!

A couple things to keep in mind...

The average weight loss with the band is 1-2 pounds a week. So, don't expect a fast loss. It took time to put the weight on and it'll take time to take it back off.

Also keep in mind "restriction" refers to the tightening of the band around the stomach, not restricting what you can and can't eat. The band's job isn't to physically stop you from eating anything- that will always be your job. Once you have adequate Fluid in your band it will allow you to go much longer periods of time without hunger after eating very small amounts of food. That may not sound like much, but if you listen to your band and only eat when hungry, it's awesome and makes it very easy.

Here's a great link to better explain what the band does and doesn't do: http://drsimpson.net/fills/Lap-band-eating/lap-band-not-restriction/lap-band-and-restriction.html

Realize that this is the time which you are still healing, so weight loss is not going to be the highest priority. As others have mentioned, it's your portion control and changing your relationship with food which will make the difference. You cannot rely solely on fills for weight loss, for even with restriction your band will not stop you from eating the wrong things. I had to wait 14 weeks post op for my first fill, and still managed to lose weight. Weight loss with the band is healthy eating along with portion control and exercise...but it is also about your mindset. There is a psychology behind obesity that plays a role as well. The more you know about it, the better coping tools you will have to help. Best wishes for success...

What they ^ said....

As Sojo stated, the psychology part of obesity is a huge factor.

If you stick around here for any length of time, you will hear banders confessing their screw ups b/c of stress in their lives.

Everyone has stressful times, we need to deal with other ways to cope with them.